From KFAN.com
Exactly 12 hours before kickoff on Sunday, ESPN 2 showed a rerun of the 1998 NFC Championship game between the Vikings and Falcons. Funny, no matter how many times you watch it, the outcome never changes.
Many comparisons have been made this season between the 1998 Vikings and the 2009 Vikings, mostly because 1998 was the last time people in Minnesota truly believed this football team had a realistic shot to win the Super Bowl (the 41-0 NFC Championship game after the 2000 season hardly qualifies).
But contrary to what many Vikings fans believe, the parallels between the ‘98 team and the ‘09 team are few and far between, most notably the fact that Dennis Green’s squad essentially rolled through the entire season without a humbling experience, sans one blip at Tampa Bay. The ’09 squad was humbled throughout the entire month of December, and they came into Sunday’s match-up with Dallas as underdogs in the eyes of the national media.
The biggest problem with the 1998 Vikings is that they had no concept of what it was like to lose a football game, and when things started snowballing in the wrong direction against Atlanta, they curled up in the fetal position. Their aura of invincibility eventually served as a downfall.
It’s too early to say whether the 2009 team will write a different story than the 1998 team. But after watching the Vikings thoroughly dismantle the hottest team in the NFC, 34-3, it’s obvious Brad Childress’ bunch has put its December struggles in the rear view mirror.
And the best part? They’re almost certain to be underdogs once again in New Orleans next weekend for the NFC Championship game.
Maybe the Saints will play the role of the 1998 Vikings.
Vikings defense, not Cowboys’, walks the walk
Heading into Sunday, the Cowboys defense had allowed only 31 points over its last four games, while tallying 16 sacks. Two of those games were shutouts, and three of those games came against the Saints and the Eagles.
It’s understandable why most people thought tenacious pass rushers Anthony Spencer, DeMarcus Ware and Jay Ratliff would give the Vikings fits. Instead, it was Jared Allen, Kevin Williams, Pat Williams, Jimmy Kennedy, and Brian Robison who feasted. Oh, and Ray Edwards, who had the game of his life.
“I just went out there and read my keys like my coach (Karl Dunbar) taught me,” Edwards said. “I just went out there and played my butt of for him and continued to work. God willing, I’ll be back next week and I’ll be 100%.
“They were saying all week how our DBs weren’t going to match with their receivers, but they did a good job. They gave us enough time to get at them up front.”
Before exiting with a right knee injury in the second half, Edwards tallied three sacks, a forced fumble, and multiple quarterback hurries. Tony Romo ran around the backfield like a wounded cat for three hours. In fact, Romo dropped back to pass 40 times and was hit 16 times.
The Vikings pass rush has certainly made quarterbacks sweat this season (see: Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford, etc.), but does Sunday’s flustering of Romo stand at the top of the list?
“I think so,” said Ben Leber, who was the beneficiary of a Romo ill-advised interception in the second half. “And for the most part, we blitzed when we had to, but a lot of those times the D-line was just running their game. We knew their big guys really couldn’t handle movement that well. So those guys just did a great job of getting a four-man rush and making it a lot easier for us on the backend.”
The Cowboys gained 118 yards in the first quarter, essentially moving the ball at will. If not for Ray Edwards coming up with two huge sacks and a forced fumble, the Vikings may have trailed early instead of jumping out to a 7-0 lead.
But coming away with zero points in the first quarter seemed to frustrate the Cowboys. At one point in the opening period, when facing 4th-and-1 from the Vikings 30-yardline — and with Romo and company dissecting the Vikings defense — Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips elected to attempt a 48-yard field goal with embattled kicker Shaun Suisham, who most people may remember as the Redskins kicker who missed a 23-yard field goal earlier in the season that would have clinched a win over New Orleans.
Of course, Suisham missed the 48-yarder. It seemed logical that making a 48-yard field goal was a much more difficult task than gaining one yard at the time. As it was, Dallas missed its window to jump out in front and gained only 130 yards the rest of the game.
From that point on, the Vikings defense overwhelmed America’s Team. Romo was sacked six times. He also threw an interception and fumbled three times, losing two of them.
“We had our game plan ready,” Pat Williams said. “We just figured we’d come out and smash them and outwork them. We smashed them and outworked them.
“Put the Saints on up there. We’re going to ride down low, right under the radar at the bottom.”
Quiet confidence led to blowout
With everyone around them talking about the tenacity of the Cowboys defense and the various match-up advantages Dallas had heading into Sunday, Vikings players remained tight-lipped in the locker room all week long. They bit their tongues and sat with quiet confidence.
“I know that the conversations were a lot about if our tackles were going to be able to hold up against the outside linebackers,” Childress said. “Our deal was this; we got a good football team. I told them that all year long. I heard all that nonsense and all the hype about the Dallas Cowboys coming to town, the hottest team in the playoffs. I asked my team early in the week to choke it back and shut up. We will play the game when we get here on Sunday. The game is always won on the football field.
“I knew they would play their tail off and be able to dispel that myth of (who) was coming to town.”
Not a bad strategy, and the Vikings may want to implement a similar plan this week. After New Orleans dismantled Arizona, they will likely be clear favorites.
And speaking of the offensive tackles, with the exception of DeMarcus Ware coming untouched for a sack on the first play of the game (put that one on Chester Taylor), Bryant McKinnie and Phil Loadholt held their own in pass protection.
“I feel like everybody just put in a lot of work,” McKinnie said. “Plays were being executed. As hard as everybody worked all week long, I’m not surprised (at the margin of victory). But then again, if you listened to the media then you would be surprised.”
Dallas sacked Favre four times on Sunday, but Favre completed 15-of-24 passes for 234 yards and four touchdowns, and it rarely seemed as if he was uncomfortable in the pocket.
“We did a lot of play action,” McKinnie said. “We set up the run a little bit, and it enabled us to do play action, bring some draws. They kind of weren’t sure. They didn’t get a chance to pin their ears back like I’ve seen them do against other teams, because they usually get up first, have a lead, and then other teams are playing catch up and passing the ball a lot. That allows them to just rush the passer, but we mixed it up.”
Credit Childress and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell with putting together a fantastic offensive game plan. The running game, statistically, was not aesthetically pleasing; 26 rushes and 63 yards for Peterson, and 33 rushes for 109 yards as a team.
But the presentation was fantastic. The Vikings used a series of fake reverses and fake handoffs to Peterson and Percy Harvin to keep Dallas off-balance. Later on, Favre actually handed the ball to Harvin in some of those same scenarios, and he ran three times for 23 yards.
There was a growing sense that Minnesota’s offense simply had too many weapons in too many places, and the Cowboys defense had trouble dictating pace.
“It probably wasn’t the prettiest running game,” Steve Hutchinson said, “but four or five yards a pop when we had to get it to keep the chains moving, to keep their defense off-balance, and then we were able to convert and move the chains with the short passing game and take our shots when we had to… That’s probably went as well as we could have planned.”
Sidney Rice with another coming out party
If the world was unfamiliar with Sidney Rice before Sunday, his 141-yard, three touchdown performance (three receiving touchdowns ties an NFL playoff record) pushed him one step closer to being a household name.
As recently as January of 2009, Rice was a beleaguered, banged-up, underachieving, former second round draft who showed very few signs of having a breakout season in 2010. At best, in the eyes of most who follow the Vikings closely, if Rice could stay healthy, he may have been in line for a solid 2010 campaign.
But 1,300 yards, eight touchdowns and a Pro Bowl berth? What?
“I said that from day one that Sidney is that type of player,” Brett Favre said. “I hate to compare him or put him in categories, because I think he is in a category by himself. There are faster guys, there are taller guys, there are quicker guys, but the thing about Sidney — and I’ve played with guys like him as far as the work ethic — is he wants to be good. It matters to him.”
Rice said after the game that the game plan didn’t dictate Favre throwing deep. He said Dallas’ safeties do a fantastic job of rolling coverages and limiting home runs. Even on the two long touchdowns to Rice — a 47-yarder in the first quarter and a 45-yarder in the third quarter — safety Gerald Sensabaugh and cornerback Mike Jenkins provided very good coverage. Rice just flat out made big plays, like he has all season.
“I feel like it’s been a real good season for me so far,” Rice said. “And I definitely feel like we won’t be finishing anytime soon. A lot of it has to do with the guys around me. None of it would be possible without those guys around me.”
